Virtual Professional Development

"I wanted to let you know how grateful I am to have had you connect with our staff. I had been reflecting on why I reached out to you, and how I felt that you would be the perfect fit on our journey as educators to better understand how to weave Indigenous ways of knowing and learning with our focus on recognising strengths, unique gifts and talents and knowing your values. I listened and acknowledged the 'signs' that this was the right path....and it was!

The presentation was informal, organic and you were able to showcase your gifts as 'storyteller' while providing our teachers with excellent examples and knowledge. 

I hope we are able to continue our work together, I am excited about future connections with staff AND our students and families!

Again, thank you for today, for your stories, for sharing and building our confidence!"

Have a wonderful rest of your day! I am sure we will be connecting soon." 

Implementing the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is a priority in all our schools, in every classroom. And well it should be. In December of 2015, the Commission published 94 'calls to action'  for indigenous and non-indigenous Canadians to come together in a concerted effort to help repair the harm caused by residential schools. Collectively, we have accepted our roles and responsibilities(BTW, had we earlier dealt with the numerous inequalities and injustices, the Commission woould not have been necessary.)

Educators are understandably concerned that Indigenous people will take offense by the use of Indigenous stories and experiences. Educators are worried and yet ready to step up to the plate. Here, I can help.

Through Zoom, Meet, Team, FB live and any one of a growing number of social media platforms, I am able to become part of your classroom instruction, your staff pro-d, your board meeting, parent gatherings, conferences...  

It is early July and I have already had access to almost every group imaginable (in English et en francais). If you would like to talk more about how I might be able to help you and just how that can be arranged, please reach out to Chris Patrick, my friend and agent. He is amazingly easy to reach and talk to. Together, it will be easy to put something together. 
bouchardbookings@shaw.ca  toll free 866-786-4237 

Je parle et j'écris en français

Mon père, Wilbrod Bouchard, était un bleuet du Lac St. Jean. Nous, on est des Savards, des Tremblays, des Pilotes et ben d'autres lignes française...et parmi nous, il n'y a pas un nom anglais. 

Maman elle, elle était une Mercier et de son côté, on est des Merciers, des Allards, des Beaudoins et des Charbonnots...et encore une fois, pas un nom anglais. 

En bref, le  français, c'est ma langue (et le bras que vous voyez ici est le mien). 

C'est ma langue m'a permis de trouver de l'emploi sur la côte ouest du Canada. C'est ma langue qui m'a amené à Paris pour le Salon du Livre chaque printemps depuis 15 ans. Ma langue est l'un de mes nombreux cadeaux. Je célèbre ma langue et ma culture dans tout ce que je fais ... dans tout ce que je suis. Je suis fransaskois.


Et puis vint Covid-19

Mon agent et moi avons organisé notre premier webinaire il y a un mois et  depuis ce temps, nous avons été très occupés. 

Une grande partie de mon travail en ligne est en français.

J'ai travaillé une semaine entière avec une école à St. Albert, en Alberta. J'ai eu une merveilleuse expérience avec l'École Monseigneur de Laval à Regina. Je vais offrir quatre présentations aux administrateurs et aux enseignants francophones de l'Alberta.

Je ne retournerai peut-être pas à Paris cette année pour le Salon du Livre (bien que cela reste à voir) mais cela ne m'empêche pas de partager mes apprentissages et mon amour de la lecture et des livres avec les élèves, les éducateurs et les parents.

l'équipe à  l'école secondaire Jules -Vernes à Vancouver

En fait, c'est tout le contraire. Le coût du vol, de la location de voitures et de chambres d'hôtel, de manger dans les restaurants, etc… est souvent prohibitif. Cela coûte très cher aux communautés éloignées en particulier. Aujourd'hui, cependant, il suffit de quelques ordinateurs et de la connectivité. Il convient toutefois de noter que tous n'ont pas accès aux ordinateurs ni à la connectivité Wi-Fi. C'est quelque chose que tous les Canadiens devraient comprendre et devraient s'efforcer de corriger.

J'ai plus de vingt-cinq livres en français. Celles-ci se concentrent sur une variété de sujets, mais elles traitent principalement des valeurs et traditions autochtones. 

Depuis bien longtemps, j'ai été très bien accueilli au Salon du Livre à Paris. J'ai également fait de nombreuses présentations dans plusieurs de nos communautés francophones du Canada.

Beaucoup de mes livres sont en français. Certains sont pour les enfants, mais la plupart sont des livres culturels adaptés à tous les groupes d'âge.

Les Editions des Plaines (Winnipeg) est incroyable car mes éditrices font ce qu'elles font pour des raisons culturelles - notre langue / notre culture!

Pour me réserver pour parler à vos élèves, parents ou à vos éducateurs, contactez mon agent Chris Patrick.

Et jetez un œil sur mes livres en sachant que j'ai de nouveaux titres qui sortent tout le temps, deux au cours des six prochains mois.

https://www.davidbouchardbooks.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=29

E-Learning - full steam ahead

I am learning as I am teaching.

There are several platforms currently being used as online tools and more are certain to appear in the near future. I have been working through Zoom, Meet and Team. In the past, I have presented through Skype.

The pandemic struck and we are all trying to do our share at making the world a better place. I wear a mask. I practice social distancing. I am making an effort at lessening my carbon footprint on the environment by staying and sharing from home.

In the past few weeks,web presentations have proven effective.


1. I have worked with an entire community; students, staff and parents. Feedback..."Amazing as always. So passionate. Very well received. Have tweeted it out. Let's chat again next school year. Meegwetch."  

2. I have worked with individual classrooms in both English et en francais. 

Students seem to be enlightened to see my workplace, my shack. I have been sharing my flutes and stories that relate to some of the artifacts that I have picked up over many years. 

                                                                                                                       
And I have, of course, been reading from my books. In many ways, being here at home is allowing me a more personal and inspirational message be it about mental health, individual gifts, the need for and the pleasure in reading and of course, Indigenous traditions and values.     

3. Professional development. I have worked with teachers who are seeking support in teaching Indigenous content. My passion remains reading so I rarely, if ever, speak to professional groups without touching on literacy/reading. Feedback...

"I just wanted to let you know how grateful I am to have had you connect with our staff. I had been reflecting on why I reached out to you, and how I felt that you would be the perfect fit on our journey as educators to better understand how to weave Indigenous ways of knowing and learning with our focus on recognising strengths, unique gifts and talents and knowing your values. I listened and acknowledged the 'signs' that this was the right path....and it was!

The presentation was informal, organic and you were able to showcase your gifts as 'storyteller' while providing our teachers with excellent examples and knowledge. 

I hope we are able to continue our work together, I am excited about future connections with staff AND our students and families!

Again, thank you for today, for your stories, for sharing and building our confidence!"

Teachers, administrators and parents, go here for my webinar fees. If you have questions, email or call my agent Chris Patrick at 866 786 4237.

                                                                                                      

Raven's Great Light Show - a reading...

We Learn from the Sun

I don't even know where to begin.

We Learn from the Sun is being launched June 9th and will be available from that day forward. It is being published by Medicine Wheel Education, Victoria, B.C. Simply said, this book is...wow... https://medicinewheel.education/

This wow is not so much in response to the book itself although it is honestly wow.

This wow is directed at the unprecedented energies a group of young, passionate publishers have invested in producing and publishing We Learn from the Sun. Medicine Wheel has created a book that I am convinced will be a game changer for primary children.

"This richly illustrated book by Metis writer David Bouchard and Metis illustrator Kristy Cameron, weaves together Woodland style paintings with a rhythmic poem about the spiritual lessons that we can learn from the Sun and the seven sacred teachings."  Goodreads 

My book, The Seven Sacred Teachings with the same artist, Ojibway Metis Kristy Cameron, is a best seller that is being used extensively and effectively in classrooms across Canada.

This new book focusses on the same teachings only in this book, we have created text and imagery meant for younger readers. Youth, both Indigenous and  non-Indigenous, should be introduced to the spirituality of Indigenous people everywhere. These teachings are recognized and accepted world wide. Not religion. Spiritual guidance.

"We Learn from the Sun is an Indigenous rhyming poem based on his best selling book Seven Sacred Teachings. A Teacher Lesson Plan and Resource Guide accompany the book. It's a beautiful poem with colorful illustrations about the Seven Sacred Teachings to be learned from the sun." 49th Shelf
'

Medicine Wheel Education wanted to help educators and parents build on the teachings so they included a teacher lesson plan and resource guide. Check it out on their website.

Good  luck.

Reach out to me if you need me. I will always be here for you.

www.davidbouchard.com   

Raven's Great Light Show

I honestly don't know what role Leprechaun plays in Irish culture, but like most, I have heard it said that Leprechaun sits at the foot of the rainbow with a pot of gold.

It was that that got me to thinking.

I had just recently returned ftom a trip to the Arctic filled with stories and dreams.

One of the most exhilerating experieces I had had was being in the front row watching the spectacular show of the Aurora Borealis - the Northern Lights.

Like many, I listened and I dreamed. I heard stories and I let my imagination run wild. When it was over and done: Raven's Great Light Show.

As I always do in creating my books, I meshed what I had seen, heard and dreamed. Mixed in with it all was Leprechaun sitting at the bottom of the rainbow. Whether or not Leprechaun was responsible for the rainbow I didn't know but in my mind, Raven was totally responsible for the Northern Lights and that was the story I would tell.


Next came a partner/an illustrator. Keep in mind that most of my partners are not illustrators but fine artists. What I needed was one whose work perfectly typified the Northern Lights. Enter Jasyn Lucas:

I reached out to this amazing Oji-Cree from Thompson, Manitoba. Illustrating a book would be new to Jasyn but he was all in. The rest is history... 

Thank you Vidacom Publication https://www.vidacom.ca/ for producing such a beautiful book. 

A Pandemic and a New Direction

I have lived through the tragedy of Canada's residential schools. I saw the start and end of the Vietnamese War. I was here when the Kennedys and Martin Luther King were assasinated. I experienced the break up of the Soviet Union, the taking down of the Berlin Wall and I saw the twin towers fall in 9/11. I was here when appartaid ended in South Africa and when the US elected Barack Obama, their first black president. I was one of the many shocked as the US elected Donald Trump their president. I have lived through many things.

Today' pandemic is as world changing as any I have seen.

This pandemic will have some major and lasting effects on my personal and on my professional lives.

As I write this in mid-May, ready or not, the world seems to be on the verge of reopening. It will  reopen with severe restrictions. It will reopen but likely not ever be the same. Change is usually good and in this case, good might come of it.

For certain, this new reality will affect what I do and how I do it.

I accept the need for change and have already embraced it.

My friend/manager/partner Chris Patrick and I have  decided to aggressively attack remote-learning.

We have already hosted two webinars that were both well attended.

What we will attempt to put in place is a programme by which I can go on doing what I have done for the past 20 years only working from home. The carbon footprint I have left on the environment during years of travel will be greatly diminished. Through remote-learning, I will reach many more students, educators and parents because travel, hotels, etc...are expensive. And finally, I will be in a better position to customize what I do to a greater extent.


I picture my reading with kids, sharing ideas and answering questions remotely in classrooms from kindergarden to post secondary.

I am ready to start sharing with teachers through staff meetings and pro-d as well as parents durinig PAC meetings or parent conferences.

I will, of course, continue to make myself available in person as this type of presentation is not going to disappear.

Change is a-comin' and we are embracing it for all the good things it offers.

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